Beacon directs chopper to hurt man

RESCUE: Life Flight crewman Logan Taylor with the Westpac rescue helicopter.PHOTO/FILE

A man who rolled his digger on an inland Tora farm was found by a rescue helicopter after activating a personal locator beacon.

Life Flight crew in the Westpac rescue helicopter located the farmer, who had rolled his digger about 50m down a bank, on Sunday.

The farmer's companion used the beacon to alert emergency services to their location.

Due to the location, a flight paramedic was winched down to the farmer.

The farmer was flown to the Wellington Hospital emergency department with moderate head injuries.

Life Flight crewman Logan Taylor said using a beacon could shave hours off a rescue.

"We can home right into it within 100m. It's very good for us ... they are a good bit of kit. They cut down heaps of time."

The beacons provided rescuers with a GPS location, as well as a position relative to the location of the helicopter, which made identifying the direction to take easier.

The use of a locator beacon was increasingly common these days, Mr Taylor said.

"We are getting more and more. People are actually carrying them."